The Importance of Employee Appreciation

Employees are one of the best assets of any company. Adding productive, engaged, committed, and talented individuals to your team influence your business’s overall success and longevity. 

By JORI HAMILTON

But creating great teams and having to dismantle them because you can’t keep employees at your company for whatever reason can be detrimental to your operation. It’s essential to keep your employees happy. One of the best ways to do this is through employee appreciation.

Read on to learn more about the importance of employee appreciation and how you can implement it in your company today.

Why Employee Appreciation is Important

According to Glassdoor’s Employee Appreciation Survey, “81% of employees report they’re motivated to work harder when their boss shows appreciation for their work, higher than the 38% of employees who say they’re motivated to work harder when their boss is demanding or the 37% of employees who say they’re motivated to work harder because they fear losing their job.”

Employees want to be recognized for what they achieve at a company but, more importantly, appreciated for who they are. Acknowledging a person’s inherent value and appreciating their worth as a colleague and human being increases employee retention.  

You can create teams of people committed to completing tasks, coordinating projects, and achieving goals for your company because that’s simply their character. You won’t have to depend on incentives or other promises to motivate them to do their best work. Your genuine appreciation is all they need to stay passionate about their responsibilities.  

You need good leaders and managers in your company. One common quality of effective leadership is the ability to foster stronger relationships with and among your employees. Employee appreciation does that. With this practice, they forge quality relationships with their employees, pinpoint and utilize their strengths, and connect with them through appropriate communication styles. So, it’s safe to say that employee appreciation is vital on all levels of your company.  

Six Ways to Appreciate Your Employees

When you show appreciation to your employees, you’re more likely to build trust and connect. Trust and connection are crucial to creating genuine relationships with your employees that support their personal and professional progression and your company’s growth.

There are various ways to show your employees your gratitude for who they are as a person and what they bring to your company. It’s best practice to start with low maintenance appreciation practices like the following to build consistency and define expectations. 

Here are six ways to show your employees the appreciation they deserve.

Reward your employees

When employees are doing great things for your company, reward them for their efforts. Giftcards, extra time on lunch, a paid day off, certificates of achievement, and recognition at company events are all great reward ideas that show your employees you appreciate them.

Even when they aren’t rising to the occasion, you should “reward” them with an intentional effort to help them better their performance. This shows that you believe in their abilities and see their potential in your company. You aren’t willing to just give up on them, and that speaks volumes to an employee. 

Celebrate milestones

It is essential to celebrate the birthdays, baby showers, moving up, and work anniversaries of your employees to make them feel special and noticed. Knowing milestones in your employees’ lives shows your genuine interest in and commitment to learning them personally.

While you may choose to send out a company-wide announcement with a virtual birthday card attached, you should also remember to do something personal for each employee on these days. Put together a gift basket of all their favorites, treat them to their favorite restaurant for lunch, or decorate their cubicle. 

Have one-on-ones

Having frequent one-on-ones with your employees may not seem like a form of employee appreciation, but it most definitely is. One-on-one meetings allow you to create deep, meaningful relationships with them.

Allowing your employees to vent their frustrations, reveal their fears, and create viable career plans in a safe space is powerful. One of the best things you can do for the people you work with is put down your phone, turn away from your computer, and genuinely listen to them. Set up weekly meetings with each of your employees, and be sure to discuss professional and personal topics.

Offer personal and professional development opportunities

Appreciating your employees means knowing when they’re ready to take the next step in their career. It also means knowing how important it is to support their personal growth in addition to professional development.

When you care about your employees’ personal and professional growth, you’re creating a more intelligent and productive workforce. You can show the world how much you care about your employees with a company culture that prides itself on helping them achieve. 

Continually update your employees on training opportunities and vacant positions relevant to their career goals. Sit down with them individually and create a plan for how they want to move up in your company.

Give your employees more responsibility and control

Another way to show your employees appreciation is by trusting them with more responsibility and control over their job responsibilities. You can reserve this method for the most productive employees and use it to reward specific achievements.

Allow employees to determine what projects they take on and in what capacity. You can also give them more control over their schedules by offering fully remote or hybrid work schedules to promote flexibility and support a greater work-life balance.

Be Consistent No Matter What

As a business owner, you’re overwhelmed with various responsibilities. You’re also under the constant pressure of making the right decisions, choosing the right employees, letting go of unproductive team members, managing finances, growing business relationships, and so forth.

But no matter how busy you get, if you’ve committed to showing your employees more appreciation, you must be consistent. Free up time to properly appreciate your employees by outsourcing some of your day-to-day tasks like coordinating travel plans, managing your calendar, executing marketing plans, or interviewing prospective employees. Delegating tasks is never a bad thing, and it can serve as another example of work-life balance.

Conclusion

Appreciating who your employees are and what they bring to their respective roles is the best way to keep them happy and loyal to your company. Reward your employees, celebrate their milestones, and engage in frequent one-on-ones with them, offer professional and personal development resources, and trust them with more responsibility. But most of all, stay committed to and consistent with your efforts no matter what.  

• Jori Hamilton is an experienced writer residing in the Northwestern U.S. She covers a wide range of topics but takes a particular interest in covering topics related to business productivity, marketing strategies, and startup efficiency. To learn more about Jori, you can follow her on Twitter: @HamiltonJori